29
Dec
2009
TESOL
What is TESOL?
TESOL stands for ‘Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages’. While qualifications to teach English as a Second Language vary across countries and institutions, TESOL provides a great opportunity to teach English around the world. To teach English in Australia, a degree or diploma in education plus teaching experience, is also required to teach English to speakers of other languages.
There are different TESOL Certification courses, depending on how long you want to study for and where you want to teach. For example, the Advanced TESOL Certificate Course is designed for those who want to teach English overseas, so no degree or prior teaching experience is necessary. This course will typically include the standard 60-hour TESOL course plus 1 specialisation course (also 60 hours). Whereas the Certificate IV in TESOL includes the standard 60 hour course made up of 16 core units, plus 3 specialisation courses (each specialisation is 60 hours as well).
The TESOL Certificate
The TESOL Certificate can be used to tutor privately, start your own tuition business, or take up a teaching position at an educational institution. It will teach you how to interact with students, keep their interest, and be confident in your role as a teacher. The course will teach you about pronunciation, conversation, grammar, activity-based learning, applied linguistics, the philosophy of teaching, developing TESOL industry knowledge, lesson planning and teaching preparation, and the skills of listening, speaking, writing and reading.
Core TESOL units cover ideas and techniques such as working in socially diverse environments, TESOL methods, teaching presentation, teaching vocabulary, implementing student assessment materials, health safety and security procedures, information technology techniques in TESOL and more. Then there are specialisation units that cover teaching specific types of English from tourism, to business, hospitality, computer, medical and legal. These units also cover different student ages, from pre-school to elementary, adolescents and adults.